There are often situations in which it is desirable to be able to get a truck, such as a tractor trailer truck onto a set of tracks so that the truck can run along the tracks, such as for example, in order to repair the set of tracks. As another example, if catenary cable for an electric powered railway car is being installed onto a set of tracks, a catenary cable installation truck may be placed onto the set of tracks to install the standards that support the cable and then also install the cable.
In a typical situation, the truck that is going to be placed onto the set of railroad tracks may be a tractor trailer truck that may be 60-70 feet long. In order to move that truck on the set of railroad tracks, a long siding along the set of railroad tracks is needed. For example, for the tractor trailer, a siding of more than 90 feet may be required. However, such a long siding is not always available.
In the case of installing overhead cable along the set of tracks, the truck will need to be periodically removed from the tracks to replenish the materials and wire so that it is desirable to provide a way to get a truck onto the set of railroad tracks when a long siding is not available.